Only Begotten
by PixelByPixel
Summary: In the months after Charlotte's death, someone has been killing blonde women. Lucifer and Chloe attempt to track down the killer, who is nobody they ever would have expected. (The fic is lighter than this summary might suggest.)


"Are you sure you're okay with this, Chloe?" Ella asked, her expression one of earnest concern. "I mean, you guys have been all business since…" She held her index fingers to each side of her head, her eyes widening meaningfully.

"Stop that," Chloe chided, though she managed not to laugh. "You know he doesn't really have horns." She caught Ella's dubious look and added, "He's the right choice. I have to do it, since nobody else in the department fits the profile. Asking Dan to go with me would be…"

Ella nodded her understanding, her expression gone sympathetic. "Yeah, that'd be kind of mean. He's so… intense about this case, though I guess I can understand why. Don't you think that bringing him in on it might help, though?"

"Maybe, but maybe not," Chloe replied. "Since Charlotte, Dan's been so…" She shook her head. Being part of an operation to draw out the latest killer didn't seem like something that would suit Dan, these days. Or maybe it would suit him too much. He, like Lucifer and Chloe, was professional at work - worryingly so, if Chloe was honest with herself - and too quiet outside of the precinct. He still got tense around Lucifer, too, which didn't help.

And that, of course, was why she and Lucifer were all business at work. They were still figuring everything out, but with Dan still blaming Lucifer for Charlotte's death, a public relationship could be uncomfortable, to say the least. And if Chloe told Ella, she'd be pricing skywriters to spread the news; there'd be no chance of keeping it quiet.

So. Business at work. Chloe even had to be careful at home, because the last thing she wanted was to put Trixie in the position of having to choose between lying to her father and hurting his feelings.

Ella nodded. "I guess I don't blame him. I mean, I don't know if the killer's a copycat or what, but it has to be tough on him."

"So Lucifer and I will do it, and it'll be fine," Chloe said, her voice decisive.

"I'm sorry," Lucifer purred, sounding not at all apologetic. "We'll do _what_?"

Of course he would come in just then. Was that one of his supernatural gifts, making an entrance at the precise moment to catch a comment he could turn into innuendo? It was sort of related to desire, after all.

And of course Chloe knew what _it_ Lucifer had in mind. That was another thing that hadn't happened, though more for lack of opportunity than anything else. They had talked about it, of course, but Dan had needed time to himself, and Chloe was not about to begrudge him that. She also wasn't about to say no to more time with Trixie, but that made other things challenging.

"It's for a case," Ella said quickly. "You know, those murders?"

Lucifer strolled the rest of the way into Ella's lab and leaned casually against the counter. Chloe wondered if he practiced poses like that, or if his grace was as effortless as it appeared. She imagined him in front of the mirror, trying on expressions like his bespoke suits, and wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. He really was sort of playing at being human, wasn't he?

"The women?" Lucifer asked, his expression gone serious. He turned his attention to Chloe, his brows lowering. "The ones who resemble the Detective?"

It had been a little unsettling. A month after Charlotte's death, another blonde woman had been killed, also with a single gunshot. Four more had followed over the next several months, all blonde and fairly young. All had had some connection to the LAPD: one was the wife of a vice cop, another was part of the secretarial staff, one was a paralegal with the DA's office, and the most recent had been a rookie cop. Chloe didn't rank the murders, of course, but it had been particularly hard to see the body of the fresh-faced young cop three days earlier. That was what had motivated her to put together the plan to act as bait.

Of course, they knew that the others hadn't been killed by Charlotte's murderer, and Chloe's skin crawled at the thought of him. But Marcus - Cain, _actual_ Cain - was gone, and Chloe was pretty sure he hadn't escaped Hell to kill more blonde women.

Lucifer would have told her, right?

Surely the Lord of Hell would know about an escaped prisoner, especially that prisoner.

"Yeah," Chloe said finally, pulling her attention back to Lucifer. "They'd all been seen at that coffee shop around the corner." It was flimsy, she knew, but it was all they had to go on at this point. Ballistics had confirmed that the same weapon had been used, but there had been no DNA at the scenes, nothing that could help them find the killer.

Lucifer straightened sharply, frowning as he pushed away from the counter. "And you're going to draw his eye, put yourself in harm's way? I can't allow it. Not the woman I -" He broke off his words, perhaps aware of Ella's wide-eyed interest. "My partner."

Chloe was a little relieved that he had interrupted himself. After all, neither of them had made any particular declarations. It was all still too new, and while Chloe knew he wasn't Marcus, there was still that fear of jumping into something else too soon.

Squaring her shoulders, she said, "We need to stop this killer, Lucifer - and you shouldn't call them he; we can't assume anything. Besides, you know you can't tell me what to do. Free will, remember?" she added, her lips curving a bit.

"Well, then, I'll express my _own_ free will and go with you," Lucifer decided, though not without a small, pleased smile of his own.

Hearing that she was miracle had been odd for Chloe, but she'd had to laugh at Lucifer's suggestion that she'd been created for him. The arrogance of the man… well, no, he was the Devil, and so was probably allowed a certain amount of arrogance. But if he thought that Penelope Decker was going to share credit with anyone other than her husband, he had another thing coming.

Ella elbowed Chloe, a gesture she may have intended to be subtle. "Do we tell him that we'd already said that he was going to help?"

"He still got to decide," Chloe said quietly, turning to wink at Lucifer.

"As if I'd be anywhere else," Lucifer said staunchly. "So when do I join you as caffeinated bait?"

"Chloe." Dan stood in the doorway, his face gone white and tense. "Can I speak with you?"

"Go ahead, Daniel," Lucifer said airily. "We're all friends here."

Dan's expression tightened, and Ella made her way to Lucifer's side, muttering, "Mind if we talk in your lab, Ella? Of course not; go ahead. Work is overrated." She grabbed Lucifer's arm, despite his squawk about his Armani, and hauled him, protesting, out of the lab.

"You're not seriously letting him help," Dan hissed, and Chloe found herself wondering if he needed to wear a mouth guard at night to keep him from grinding his teeth from the tension. "Chloe, you can't."

Chloe took a breath, biting back a sigh. "Look, we have to catch this killer. We can't let more people die."

"So you're going to risk yourself?" Dan stepped closer. "Chlo, you can't."

"Dan, I risk myself every day; we all do. You know that." Chloe rested a hand on Dan's arm, feeling the tension there as well. "Look, the lieutenant approved it. She thinks it's a solid plan."

What the Lieutenant had actually said was, "It's better than the nothing we're doing right now," so there was that vote of confidence.

Dan's jaw worked. He looked at his feet, not meeting her gaze as he said, "I can't tell Trixie." His voice trailed off and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Tell her what?" Chloe kept her voice gentle.

"I can't tell her that her mother is dead." His voice breaking, Dan finally lifted his gaze, though he still wouldn't look at her. "Telling her about Charlotte was hard enough."

"Hey. Dan." He finally looked at her, and Chloe continued, trying to put all her confidence in her voice, "You're not going to have to tell her that, yeah? I'm going to take precautions, and I'm going to have backup. We'll get this killer, and then somebody else won't have to find out they lost a loved one. Okay?"

"But Lucifer, Chloe? You can't seriously have _him_ help. I mean, he's the Devil."

Though Dan had lowered his voice, Chloe still looked to see where Lucifer was. Fortunately, Ella was chattering relentlessly to him, though he was still watching Chloe and Dan through the window. "Yeah, he is," Chloe agreed, her voice gone fierce. "And you know what? He was the Devil when we solved all those cases together. He was the Devil when he saved Trixie and me from Malcolm. Just because Charlotte -" She shook her head and cut off her words as Dan stiffened, knowing that nothing she could say about Charlotte would help just then.

Dan, though, pushed, "What were you going to say?" he asked, his expression already grim.

Chloe took a breath. "It wasn't his fault, Dan. Mar - Cain killed her. You know that. You should blame me, if you're going to blame anyone. Cain was in love with me." And how horrifying was that? The world's first murderer, in love with her.

Dan's face softened just a little. Chloe hadn't seen him smile since Charlotte's death, except for the odd moment with Trixie, but he looked less like he was about to snap in two. "You know you can't blame yourself for what happened, Chlo. Marcus did what he did because he's lived since, I don't know, the dawn of time. That has to mess with a guy's head. And he's not the only one."

Well. Chloe wasn't going to deny that Lucifer had issues, but she placed the blame for most of them squarely on his father's shoulders.

However benevolent a deity God was, and Chloe found that debatable considering the state of the world and what he'd done to Lucifer, he seemed like he could use some parenting classes. Chloe herself had some lessons she would love to share with him.

"Okay, yeah." It was more conciliation than agreement, but Chloe nodded. "But he's working with Linda on it. And he… took care of Cain."

Dan raked a hand through his hair and Chloe stifled the urge to straighten the mess that resulted. It would have been a gesture of comfort rather than anything else, but still one Dan likely would have rejected. "He did, but didn't it occur to anybody that maybe I'd want to _take care of Cain_? I mean, I'm glad he's burning, or whatever, in Hell, when it doesn't scare the shit out of me that Hell's real, but Charlotte was _my_ …" He faltered, and then added, his voice breaking, "I loved her."

"Oh, Dan." Chloe pulled him close, hugging him tightly until he relaxed against her. "Look, this is hard, I know," she whispered.

"You know?" Dan managed, a quiver to his voice that broke Chloe's heart. "The woman you love wasn't killed as part of some fucked-up supernatural plot."

Chloe rubbed his back, admitting, "Well, no. But my ex-fiancé was as old as humanity itself, and killed one-fourth of the world's population back at the dawn of time, so I think I can relate to fucked-up supernatural plots." She wasn't sure how accurate the population thing was, and was in fact still wrapping her mind around the Garden of Eden being real, but it sounded good, as much as anything to do with Pierce could be good.

She did not add, _And I think I'm in love with the Devil._

Their lives were all pretty messed up, really, but that was the one good thing to come it all. Once she'd been able to accept that Lucifer had been telling the truth all along, and not pretending or deluded, she was able to admit, if only to herself, how she really felt about him.

Her words drew a sound from Dan that was almost a laugh. "Okay, point. You're really going to insist that Lucifer works with you on this case, huh?"

"I trust him," Chloe replied.

She felt Dan's sigh, more than heard it, and he pulled away from her. "Then I'm backup in the van. I won't hit him or do anything unless he really deserves it, okay? But if I do hit him, you have to be there, so he feels it."

Chloe, wishing that Dan had never found out about Lucifer's vulnerability issue, hesitated. "I want Ella there, too." While Ella wasn't strong enough to prevent Dan from doing anything rash, at least she knew the supernatural situation. And maybe Dan would talk to Ella. She'd mention it.

He should talk to someone.

"Fine," Dan agreed. As long as I'm there."

Chloe nodded, and Dan turned to take the door that led him away from Ella and Lucifer.

"He okay?" Ella asked, as the two returned.

Chloe shook her head. "Not really. But I wouldn't expect him to be."

"No," Lucifer agreed. "Now tell me how we're going to lure our killer."

Ella bounced in place. "You guys could pretend to be dating!"

Lucifer turned to Chloe, his expression cheerfully smug. "That sounds perfect!"

* * *

"No." Chloe folded her arms across her chest, then shook her head for good measure. "Lucifer, we can't.

"But why not?" Lucifer replied, grinning over at her as he stirred something that smelled, well, heavenly. "If they think we're playing at being a couple, we can do…" He hesitated, and Chloe couldn't look away from his lips as he finished, his voice full of suggestion, "Whatever we want."

Chloe resisted the urge to go hop in a cold shower. How could he do this to her? Sure, he was the Devil, with his desire shtick, but this was ridiculous. Plus, they both knew the desire shtick didn't work on her. But when he spoke like that, with that look in his eyes, he really was hard to resist.

 _I have self-control. I'm an adult,_ she told herself, ignoring that little voice that said that, yes, she _was_ an adult, so why not do what she wanted?

But Chloe's life had rarely been about what _she_ wanted. First there had been her mother, then trying to live up to her father's memory, and then Dan and Trixie. And while she didn't mind putting Trixie first, something her own mother had almost never done, a small part of her wished she could just take something for herself.

"We can't do _whatever_ we want," she countered, finishing with the salad and moving to his side, curling an arm around him and leaning into his warmth. She cast him a sheepish look, realizing that her actions didn't match her words at all.

Brows lifting, Lucifer looked decidedly pleased, and he clearly reacted to her closeness rather than to her words. "Got something in mind?" he asked, looking away from his cooking.

Well. Yes, she did, but Dan would be bringing Trixie home before too much longer. "Just dinner, tonight," she said, an apology in her tone.

A brief flicker of disappointment crossed Lucifer's face, but then he nodded, smiling faintly. "They'll be here soon, yes," he said. "And I'll be gone." He grinned, then, adding, "Makes it more erotic, doesn't it? They could catch us at any time. Not that we're doing anything."

Chloe stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "Thank you," she murmured. "You're the best." She cupped his cheek, running her fingers lightly across his stubble, then added lightly, "Trixie will be at Dan's next weekend. He's finally, well, up to taking her overnight. And I think she'll do him some good."

Lucifer turned his head to kiss her palm, brightening. "Well, now. Good for Daniel." He turned off the burner before bending down to kiss her cheek, the lightest of touches. "But I don't mind waiting. After all, I've waited forever for you."

Chloe felt her eyes prickle, and she pulled him closer, but he eased away, chuckling.

"Now, now," Lucifer chided gently, emptying the skillet's contents into a serving pan and bringing it to the table. "Dinner, so we can be done before Daniel and Beatrice return." His dark eyes glinted, though it was humor rather than anything supernatural that made them shine.

"You're teasing me," Chloe accused, trying not to laugh.

Lucifer just smiled as he pulled out her chair for her. "We can do whatever you desire," he said, and it was clear he meant it.

But the weekend was coming soon, and a little patience was worth not having to worry about Trixie and Dan walking in on them.

"Hey," she said as she sat then he sat across from her. "The killer. It's not… I mean, it can't be Marcus. Cain. Right?"

"Right," Lucifer confirmed as he served the food.

Chloe nodded. Good; that was good.

"But?" Lucifer prompted.

"How do you know?" Chloe asked. "I mean, sure, a human could be this careful; we've seen it before. But no security camera footage, no DNA, nothing?"

Lucifer reached over to cover her hand with his. "And this cat-and-mouse is just his style, yes. But it's not him, I promise you."

Well, that was that. She knew he didn't lie. He'd proven it again and again.

But he must have seen her uncertainty, for he added, "I checked. He's still in his cell, living out his Hell-loop. And my demons know better than to let him escape, if he even could. He's well-guarded, Chloe."

Chloe relaxed, exhaling a soft sigh. "Thank you, Lucifer. I know it's silly, but -"

"It's not." Lucifer interrupted her, his tone firm. "Cain is conniving, as he's shown. But this, at least, is not his hand."

Chloe was relieved to hear that, of course, but eliminating one person, however definitely, still left so many others, and she needed to find this killer.

* * *

"Okay, be sure to sell the couple thing," Ella said, her tone bright.

Further in the van, Dan made a rude sound. Since he wasn't actually saying anything, Chloe ignored him. She was too busy wondering what Lucifer would do with Ella's encouragement.

"I know it's hard," Ella added, and Chloe carefully didn't look at Lucifer, "But try to act like you're dating, not just work partners."

Lucifer stepped closer and took Chloe's hand. Instinct not to be seen nearly made her snatch her hand away, but instead she just nodded. "We'll try, Ella. Thanks." She added softly, tipping her head toward the van, "Good luck."

Chloe used her free hand to close the van's door and she and Lucifer moved to make her way toward the coffee shop on foot.

"So," Lucifer murmured, his breath tickling her ear, "Fake it til you make it?"

Chloe chuckled and replied softly, "I doubt faking anything will be an issue." After all, she'd seen all those interviews with the people he'd slept with.

"Hardly," Lucifer agreed, and Chloe knew it was a promise.

How was it only Tuesday? The weekend couldn't come fast enough. So to speak.

Chloe cleared her throat and risked a glance at Lucifer, but he seemed more tentative than the smug look she had been expecting. "Let's just get through today. Remember, this is work." She spoke a little more loudly, guessing her words would be carried through the mic.

"Yeah," came Ella's voice through the earpiece. "So you have to be sure to sell it, like I said."

Chloe could hear a disgruntled mutter, presumably from Dan, and Ella added, "It's just work, dude. Come on."

Lucifer and Chloe exchanged a glance, and Chloe tried not to feel guilty. Lucifer seemed okay with keeping their relationship quiet, but she knew that might change if lying became part of the equation.

Lucifer smiled tightly and opened the coffee shop door. "Here we go," he said, and they made their way to the register.

* * *

The fake date went about as Chloe had expected. Ella encouraged them to act more in love and Lucifer obliged, all the while giving her looks that made it difficult to keep a straight face. Dan made the occasional irritated comment, though it seemed like Lucifer wasn't actively trying to get under his skin

And Chloe? Well, she enjoyed herself more than she was entirely willing to admit. It was _nice_ to be able to hold Lucifer's hand in public, to smile and maybe even to flirt a little.

She was wildly out of practice, but from the way Lucifer brightened when she tried, he didn't mind.

"This didn't accomplish anything," Dan said from the van, as Lucifer and Chloe left the coffeeshop.

"We're playing the long game," Ella countered. "And maybe Chloe caught the killer's eye."

Shaking her head at the bickering, Chloe suggested, "Let's take the short cut," and led the way through an alley. While their fake date did make her think it would be nice to back Lucifer against the side of the alley and kiss him until he couldn't breathe, she resisted.

Besides, if she had, she would have had to listen to him complain about the back of his suit getting messy.

Not worth it.

Probably.

"Wait."

The voice that rang out from the other end of the alley held a British accent that years of watching period dramas with her mother had taught Chloe meant "cultured." She pulled away from Lucifer, feeling guilty even though she hadn't done anything.

Chloe turned to face the woman, though she looked young, barely more than a girl. She quickly cataloged the woman's height, her dark ringlets, her beauty. "Is something wrong?"

The young woman, though, had eyes only for Lucifer. "You're…"

Lucifer smiled a little, and Chloe could almost see his thought: _of course she knows me_. "Have you been to Lux?" he prompted. "Maybe seen me there?"

She shook her head. "No, I…"

 _Am too young to drink?_ Chloe supplied in her mind. Not that human laws stopped Lucifer, generally, but his staff followed the rules, even if he didn't. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

The young woman turned to Chloe as if just noticing her, her dark brows lifting in a gesture that seemed oddly familiar, but it was the gun suddenly leveled at her chest that caught Chloe's attention.

"Easy," Chloe breathed, even as she reached for her own gun.

"Don't!" The woman fired a shot into the nearby wall before Chloe could complete the gesture, igniting a volley of concerned chatter over the earpiece.

"Dan and Ella, stay where you are," Chloe directed, her adrenaline spiking.

"Like hell," Dan replied.

For once, Lucifer didn't comment, his focus on the young woman.

Chloe took a deep breath. The last thing this situation needed was more people. "Come on, Dan. Keep people out of the alley, okay?" Hearing Dan's uneasy protest, she added, "I mean it. I've got this." She glanced at Lucifer, then amended, " _We_ do."

Lucifer, though, hadn't looked away from the young woman. "Come on now, who are you?" he asked, stepping closer to her despite the gun.

"Lucifer," Chloe whispered, her voice intent and full of warning.

He made a vague gesture toward her with one hand. Chloe was sure he meant it to mean something, but she wasn't sure what.

The young woman watched Lucifer's approach, though she shifted position to keep the gun aimed at Chloe.

Lucifer came to a halt tried again. "What's your name?"

A look of frustration crossed her face, but she replied, "Zerah."

Lucifer inclined his head. His tone unusually careful, he said, "Nice to meet you. I'm -"

"I know who you are." Zerah shook her head, the gun wavering in her hand.

"Look, you don't have to do this," Chloe urged, her hand inching toward her own weapon. "Nobody needs to get hurt."

Zerah's face twisted, anger and something Chloe couldn't quite place contorting her features. "It's too late," she muttered. She aimed past Lucifer, gun still extended, and fired.

* * *

"And you let her leave?"

Dan's outraged words were the first that Chloe heard as she swam back to consciousness. She kept her eyes closed, trying to ignore the throbbing ache in her skull, but gradually realized that her head was pillowed in Lucifer's lap.

He was sitting on the ground, with no word for the state of his suit.

"For one thing, I was more concerned that the Detective had been injured." Lucifer's voice stretched thin with fraying patience. "But even if I hadn't been, it wouldn't have mattered, as the gunslinger vanished. I couldn't have caught her."

Chloe inhaled a deep breath, and then opened her eyes to find herself the focus of three worried faces.

"Hey," she greeted them, hating the faintness of her voice. "What'd I miss?"

"You got shot," Dan replied, sounding like he was making an effort to gentle his tone.

Ella picked up the explanation. "From what we can tell, it knocked you back and you hit your head on the wall. Doesn't look like it broke the skin, but you might have a lump there. You haven't been out very long, but you maybe should get checked out. Good thing you were wearing a vest."

Lucifer didn't say anything, but just watched her, his expression concerned.

"I'm okay," Chloe insisted, struggling to her feet despite the others' protest. Lucifer stood as well, somehow managing to make it look graceful, and then rested a steadying hand on the small of her back. "What happened to…" She frowned, unable to remember the name, and rubbed her forehead. "She vanished? Literally?"

"Zerah," Lucifer supplied, his expression grim. "And yes. Literally." The word came crisply and sounded extra-British.

Ella frowned a little, then suggested, "Let's get back to the precinct, okay? You look like you should sit down, Chloe."

Dan was doing that hovering thing that had made Chloe want to strangle him back when she was pregnant with Trixie, and Lucifer hadn't relinquished his spot. Ella, with an exasperated noise for both of them, hip checked Dan, and then elbowed Lucifer aside to slip an arm around Chloe. "Let's go before one of them pees a circle around you," she said, and Chloe, trying not to laugh, went along with her.

The men - well, man and Devil - fell into step behind, though from their muttering they weren't chastened at all.

Ella drew Chloe closer and Chloe leaned against her, more grateful for the support than she was willing to admit. "Lucifer thinks the woman who shot you was… um, supernatural, and Dan's pissed," she whispered. She glanced over her shoulder, but Dan and Lucifer's low-voiced bickering suggested that they weren't paying attention. "Well, more pissed. I thought he was going to bust into the coffeeshop while you and Lucifer were flirting. You guys made it seem so real."

Chloe muttered something vague about the job being important, though she was more focused on making it to the van.

"Dan and I talked a little," Ella added softly. "Like you asked. He's still hurting."

Chloe nodded, her motion careful. "Of course he is. This isn't something that's going to go away."

Ella opened the door to the van. "I tried to make him see that it wasn't Lucifer's fault, but..." She shrugged. "Maybe he'll get there."

"Thanks, Ella. I appreciate it."

The drive to the precinct, though short, passed in a haze.

"Are you quite well?" Lucifer asked as he opened the door. With the hour, most of the regular staff had gone home, though Chloe thought she spotted a cleaning person down the hall.

Chloe nodded, immediately regretting the gesture when the jackhammer in her head started pounding at twice the rate. "No. Let's get down everything that happened. Dan, can you see if any security cameras cover that alley?"

Dan studied her, concerned, then nodded and moved to his desk to get to work.

Ella looked between Chloe and Lucifer and then gestured awkwardly toward her lab. "Work. Um, yeah. I'm gonna… so let me know if you need anything."

Chkoe smiled after Ella, then fumbled in her top desk drawer. Extra strength Tylenol definitely wouldn't cut it, even a double dose, but it might help. She swallowed the pills with the dregs of the morning's coffee, grimacing at the taste, then looked up to see Lucifer watching her. She asked, "Do you know Zerah? From… before?"

They hadn't spoken too much about Lucifer's time in the Silver City, as he'd shied away from the topic the few times Chloe had mentioned it, but she felt that she had to ask.

"I don't," Lucifer replied, impatient. "But are you all right, Detective?"

Chloe nodded carefully. "I've had worse. But Zerah, she's not a normal person, right?"

Lucifer leaned against the edge of the desk and sighed. "No," he agreed. "She's so familiar, though I truly don't know her."

Chloe hesitated, then suggested lightly, "She's kind of like you, if you were a woman. Tall, British accent… and I know your hair really is curly, when you don't put all that stuff in it," she added, trying to lighten his mood with a hint of teasing.

It didn't work. Frowning, Lucifer drew himself up, clearly ready to protest that Zerah was nothing like him, but then his expression grew thoughtful. "I… suppose I could see that. A bit. _Superficially_. But that doesn't make any sense. She can't be my relative; I know them all, and we don't tend to look at all alike. But really, I don't care who she is. She shot you. That's the only thing that matters."

"Finally, something we can agree on," Dan said, as he approached, his expression grim.

Ella, who had clearly been lingering, drew closer to hear his words.

"There's a security cam at the edge of the alley," Dan continued, rubbing at the back of his neck. "But it looks like it went on the fritz right before whatsername appeared, and came back right after she left." He looked askance at Lucifer, not quite meeting his gaze. "You sure she's not…" He made a vaguely skyward gesture. "Like you?"

"Or maybe she's a demon," Ella suggested. When everybody turned to look at her, she added, "Why not? I mean, Maze looks like a person, most of the time. Maybe your flirting was so good that she got jealous or something, because she wants Lucifer all to herself, back in Hell."

Nobody spoke. Then, finally, Chloe asked, "Ella, have you been reading fanfiction again?"

"No!" Ella protested. "I mean, yes, but not about demons. And never at work, except on my lunch break. Okay, there was _one time_ , but it was a slow burn friends-to-lovers and it looked like they were finally going to kiss! I had to know what happened."

"Slow burn," Lucifer echoed, with a small smile. "Yes, well, she's definitely something, but she's not a demon. I would have been able to tell. She's…" He frowned. "She's something I've never seen before."

"And that's impressive, buddy, because you are _old_ ," Ella said brightly. When Lucifer turned to her, ignoring Dan's snort, Ella added, "I mean, you still look good. Uh, have you been working out? Does the Devil need to work out?"

"No, but there is a grouping of cells in Hell that have workout equipment. For torture."

Ella grinned at Lucifer. "What else is an elliptical good for?" She sobered a little as she turned back to Chloe. "But you need to get home, okay? Maybe a bubble bath. C'mon, Chloe," she wheeled, as Chloe protested. "Pretend you know how to relax."

"I'll see you home," Lucifer said, and his polite tone almost made it sound like an offer. "And Daniel, before you start to object, I'm concerned that Zerah may come after the Detective again. Surely someone of my abilities is better suited to keep her safe."

"Maybe you could take Trixie?" Chloe offered, and Dan nodded, albeit reluctantly.

* * *

Beatrice, though, was having none of that. One look at her mother's pallor, not to mention the bullet hole in her shirt, and she insisted on remaining with Chloe.

"I'll help Lucifer take care of Mom," Beatrice told Daniel. "Please, Daddy?"

Daniel looked for a moment like he would argue, but then he eyed Lucifer and smirked, likely thinking of the small obstacle his daughter represented. "You call me if you need me, okay, Munchkin?"

Beatrice nodded and hugged Daniel, then settled on the couch between Lucifer and Chloe after he left. "Want to watch the new Jumanji movie? It's so funny!"

Lucifer shot a look at Chloe and saw that she was trying not to laugh. "Of course," he said, and if he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the movie, the child didn't need to know. After all, he wanted to become a greater part of Chloe's life, and her offspring was part and parcel.

Or so Doctor Linda had told him.

And he did enjoy The Rock.

Lucifer surprised himself by not hating the movie. Looking over to catch Chloe's response to its ending, he saw that she had fallen asleep.

Beatrice had also noticed, and kept her voice low as she asked, "Want to watch it again?"

Though tempted, Lucifer shook his head. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" While he personally didn't care if the child slept or not, he knew that Chloe did. She'd like it if he was responsible, wouldn't she?

Beatrice nodded, but remained on the couch. When Lucifer raised his eyebrows, she said, "Mom usually reads to me at bedtime." She looked over at her mother, obviously worried for all that she had seemed fine when Chloe had been awake. "I don't want to wake her up, though."

"No, you shouldn't," Lucifer agreed. He hesitated. While time with the offspring wasn't top on his list of things to do, this was probably the simplest solution. "I suppose I could -"

Beatrice didn't let him finish the sentence. "I'll brush my teeth. And then I'm going to put on my pajamas, so don't come in until I open my door."

Lucifer watched her, feeling a bit like he'd been bamboozled. "Well played," he murmured, as he got up and pulled a blanket over the Detective.

It didn't take long before the child had opened her door, with a stagewhispered, "I'm ready!"

Lucifer went into the room. The bed looked as if a stuffed animal factory had exploded on it, but the child was busily clearing off a spot to sleep. "You can pick," she said, gesturing at the bookshelf.

But, really, none of those books suited Lucifer. Oh, there were some graphic novels that he might enjoy, but those were not the best format for reading aloud. The books about the sneezing panda seemed far too young for a child Beatrice's age, and the others just didn't catch his fancy.

"Or you could tell me a story," she suggested, perhaps seeing his small frown.

Lucifer considered and quickly discarded several potential stories as unsuited for young ears, though certainly educational. "I could, I suppose."

Beatrice climbed into bed and then patted the spot next to her. When Lucifer hesitated, she urged, "Mom does, and Dad."

Well. Certainly if Daniel could do it, so could Lucifer. He slipped off his shoes and eased next to Beatrice, asking, "What sort of story would you like?"

Beatrice nestled against him, and he didn't despise it, though it helped that the blanket was between her and his suit. "Um, I have a question."

Well, that got him off the storytelling hook. "Yes, child?"

"Mom said that your Dad is God. Is he?"

Lucifer shifted slightly so he could see her. She regarded him, her expression serious and a little worried.

"He is," Lucifer confirmed. "Did your mother tell you that?"

Beatrice shrugged. "She and Maze talked about it, and I heard." She wriggled further down in bed, then grabbed a stuffed animal of indeterminate species before admitting, "Your dad sounds mean. Mom was mad."

Lucifer smiled. The Detective had been upset on his behalf? "Well, yes, but primarily that's just directed at me, not humanity. The meanness, I mean."

Beatrice pointed at a jumble of yarn and popsicle sticks. "Can he see me with that?" Perhaps seeing Lucifer's confusion, she added, "It's a God's Eye. I made it in social studies. Can your dad really see me with it?"

Well. Technically, dear old Dad could see everywhere even without the yarn and sticks, but Lucifer saw no need to enlighten the child with that fact. "That is certainly not a conduit for my father, no. The name isn't literal."

Beatrice was close enough that Lucifer could feel her relieved exhalation. "You needn't worry," he added. "He doesn't cause harm to humans. Not any more."

Beatrice cast a sidelong look at Lucifer, appearing to hesitate, and Lucifer gave her an encouraging nod. "My mom says that she loves me no matter what."

Lucifer couldn't help but smile as he imagined Chloe reassuring her daughter after some childish peccadillo. "That doesn't surprise me."

"Then how come your dad isn't like that?" Beatrice hugged her stuffed toy to her chin. "I know not everybody's mom and dad are like mine," she admitted. "But isn't your dad supposed to be… better? I mean, he's God."

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Lucifer agreed. Beatrice nodded, her small face serious, and Lucifer said, "I don't really have an easy answer for you, child. But… thank you. For thinking of me."

Beatrice grinned up at him, and offered him stuffed toy of his own. "Now will you tell me a story?"

Lucifer settled the toy on his chest. He thought it was a cow; weren't cows food? Why did humans give their offspring stuffed food? "But I answered your questions," he protested, though mildly.

Beatrice eyed him. "You think I can sleep after that?"

* * *

Lucifer spun a gentle tale for the child, one of flying and sunshine, and she was soon asleep. He eased her door shut behind him, and then checked on Chloe. She had curled onto her side and had come partway out from under the blanket; Lucifer adjusted it to better cover her.

He smiled fondly at her, feeling a tug at his heart. These humans were so fragile. Even though his Detective had worn a vest, if Zerah had managed a headshot Chloe would have died.

His smile faded. He had not lied when he said he didn't know Zerah, but there had been an uncanny familiarity about her. Stepping away, where he could still keep an eye out for Chloe - yes, and for Beatrice, too - Lucifer pressed his hands together and called out to Zerah.

Some may have called it prayer, but it wasn't; not when Lucifer did it.

There was a long enough pause that Lucifer all but decided he had been wrong, that his not-prayer wouldn't summon her. He felt… relief? Disappointment? Both? Human emotions were hard to categorize sometimes.

But then Zerah appeared in an odd, yellowish flash of light.

Well. That was new.

"What were you… stop that!" She reached to brush Lucifer's hands apart, then made a wordless cry of surprise when she found her own hands grasped in turn. Considering the suddenness of her departure back in the alley, Lucifer didn't want to let her get away so quickly.

"Quiet," Lucifer commanded, and for a wonder she listened.

"Let me go," Zerah said, her tone defiant for all that it was soft.

Lucifer shook his head. "I think not. Not until you tell me who - or what - you are."

Zerah echoed the headshake, and Lucifer suddenly remembered Chloe's declaration that this Zerah looked like him. But of course she didn't. Many people were tall, with dark eyes and dark curls. Many had accents similar to his. Of course she didn't look like…

Well. She did. He'd spent enough time looking at his own face in a mirror to see its echoes in Zerah's.

"Let me go," she protested. When her attempt to dislodge his grip failed, she used it as leverage to try to sweep Lucifer's feet out from under him.

Her efforts failed, though the impact of her heels on his shin felt as though they would leave a bruise, which certainly told him something. "Quiet," he repeated, before pulling Zerah after him into the bathroom and half-closing the door behind them.

"You're the one who called me here, and you're telling me to be quiet? You're a bully," Zerah proclaimed. "You're nothing like she said."

Lucifer took a breath, trying to be calm. "If I release you," he said, "Will you stay here and speak with me, and not cause any harm?" She nodded sullenly, and Lucifer prompted, "Your word on it."

"My word," she agreed, and then made a show of rubbing her wrists when Lucifer let her go.

Lucifer eased around to place himself between Zerah and the door, the better to protect Chloe and the child.

Really, there were certainly more dignified places to have such a conversation. "I wasn't holding you that hard," he muttered, as Zerah lifted one arm to peer at her wrist.

Zerah glared at him. "You hurt me."

Lucifer shrugged. "Not much. Now who are you? I don't remember… I haven't forgotten you, have I?" All the stories about heavenly hosts did have some basis in reality, after all. In the good old days, his parents had been prolific, but Lucifer was reasonably certain that he would have remembered a sibling who so resembled himself.

"No, you don't know me," Zerah replied, with a sly smile that caught at his memory.

Lucifer frowned. "Right. Well, at least my mind isn't going. But I, ah, called to you, and here you are. And you hurt me when you kicked me. Not a lot," he hastened to add, when Zerah brightened. "But enough for me to suspect…" His eyes widened. "Dear old Dad's done it again, hasn't he? Who did he knock up this time? Did she pretend she was a virgin? Only begotten, my ass. What, did he think things would go differently with a girl? Founded any new religions, have you?"

Zerah lifted her eyes in a truly impressive eye roll. "Wrong, wrong, really wrong."

"Well, then, who are you?" Lucifer demanded.

Zerah widened her eyes in a play at innocence that Lucifer found rather irritating. "I thought we were supposed to be quiet."

Lucifer's frown deepened. "Answer the question."

Zerah sighed. She settled to a seat on the toilet, her wrinkled nose suggesting that she, too, wished for better surroundings. "I'm your sister." Lucifer exhaled, an exasperated sound, and Zerah added, "Kind of."

Lucifer took a deep breath. "How," he asked, through gritted teeth, "are you 'kind of' my sister? I don't remember you from the Silver City, and you just said you're not the result of dear old Dad sending the so-called Holy Spirit down here again."

Zerah grimaced. "Um, wrong parent."

Lucifer's heart beat a little faster. "Mum's here?" he asked, honestly not sure what answer he was hoping to hear. "Is she still…" He gestured vaguely at his abdomen. "Ready to light up the world?" When he'd divided Azrael's blade, he had hoped that his mother wouldn't be able to find a way back to this plane of existence.

Well, mostly.

"No," Zerah replied, her voice flat.

Lucifer leaned against the wall. "But how are you here without the whole, ah, Holy Spirit thing, or, well, my father? Did he visit her here? Has she made humans, too, in her universe? She hates humans. Well, mostly."

"Please," Zerah scoffed. "Like any of that was necessary. All that Big Banging your parents did was just for the fun of it." Lucifer shuddered at the mental image, and Zerah added, "Mum wanted me, and so I _was_. She's the Goddess of Creation… _two_ Creations. She doesn't need a man."

Lucifer recognized his mother's intonation, and then realized why Zerah's smile had been so familiar. "How is she?" he asked, and then cleared his throat, looking away as if he didn't care about the answer.

"Fine," Zerah replied, a sullen edge to her voice.

Lucifer decided not to pursue that line of questioning. "Why did you shoot the Detective?" He drew himself up. He was still enough taller than his apparent sister to loom over her, particularly as she was still seated, but it did not appear to make an impact.

"I wasn't trying to kill her," Zerah said, her tone defensive. "I knew she had on one of those vests. I wanted to see you, talk to you, without humans around, but they're always around when I'm here. And then I just… I needed to get away."

Lucifer drew closer, getting in Zerah's face. "But you shot at the Detective," he said, and his eyes flared red. He reached for his sister, who still looked more defiant than cowed, when Chloe's voice came from the doorway.

"Ask her how old she is."

Lucifer glamoured his eyes before he turned back to Chloe. "You shouldn't be up," he protested.

"Zerah," Chloe said. "That's your name, right? How old are you?"

Zerah looked a little puzzled. "I don't know."

Chloe managed a wan smile. "Sounds like a little kid. And if Char- your mother made her, it hasn't been that long, right?" She leaned against the door jamb, then asked, "Look, can we go sit down?"

Lucifer moved to slip an arm around Chloe. "You," he said to Zerah. "Go sit in the chair."

Zerah made a face. "Just because you're older - I think - doesn't mean you can tell me what to do." Still, she moved to the chair, ignoring Chloe's chuckle.

The three of them seated themselves, Chloe and Lucifer on the couch, Zerah in the chair. Zerah, frowning, admitted, "I really don't know how old I am. We didn't really talk about stuff like that."

"What did you talk about?" Chloe asked, her voice gentle, that nice-mum voice she used with Beatrice.

Lucifer leaned down to murmur in her ear, "Shouldn't you be holding a grudge? She did shoot you, after all."

Chloe shook her head, nodding toward Zerah as if suggesting he listen.

"Mostly Mum talked," Zerah replied. Her tone growing bitter, she added, "She talked about here a lot, and her _boys_." She eyed Lucifer, a quick up and down, then tossed her her head, her curls bouncing. "I don't think you're that great."

Lucifer could feel Chloe quake with one burst of silent laughter, and it was all he could do not to chide… well, he wasn't sure which one of them.

"Do you have another sister?" he asked, his tone a bit sharp. "Dark skin, maybe a bit…" He moved stiffly, doing his best imitation of Amenadiel. "And another kind of rat-faced one?"

Zerah nodded, her brows lifting. "More of a weasel than a rat."

Lucifer turned to Chloe, outraged. "She's gone and remade us as _girls_."

"Women." Chloe patted his arm lightly, now turning the gentle, good-Mum voice on him. "She must miss you."

Oh.

Well.

"Zerah, how did you get here?" Chloe asked, still running her fingertips lightly up and down Lucifer's arm in a way that he found delightfully distracting.

Zerah looked away. "My mother kept talking of this place, and how she missed it. I wanted to see, so I willed it. Only I can," she added, her chin lifting in a prideful gesture that Lucifer found disconcertingly familiar. "Not my sisters. Not even Mum. Well, she probably could, but..." She shook her head, then gestured at Lucifer. "And just now, he… called me." She looked at Lucifer, a quick, darting glance. "Nobody has ever done that before."

Chloe nodded. She had her Detective face on, lovely as always, but thoughtful. "Have you been here many times?"

And just like that, Zerah was gone, again with the yellowish flash that had heralded her arrival.

Lucifer considered getting to his feet to investigate whether she had really left, but Chloe had rested her head on his shoulder. "So that was your sister." The nice-mum voice was gone, and she just sounded tired

"Apparently," Lucifer agreed. "My mother is off in her own universe spawning female versions of her former children."

"You're still her children, even if she's not here." Chloe nestled a little closer, and Lucifer reached with his free hand to pull the blanket over them both. He didn't need it, not for warmth, but it felt cozy. He had learned that he liked being cozy, on occasion. "Did you see her face when I asked how often she's been here?"

"Ah. No." Point of fact, Lucifer had been looking at Chloe, but he usually was these days.

Chloe smiled up at him, as if she had guessed where his gaze had been. "She looked guilty. Today was obviously not her first time here."

"Well." Lucifer pressed his palms together once more. "We can call her back here and ask her."

Chloe caught at one hand. "Let's give her some time to settle down. She seems… really young."

Lucifer nodded, after a moment's thought. He didn't really pay attention to ages, after all, and his Detective was more likely to know if someone was acting young. "Was that why you used the nice-mum voice on her?"

"I guess so." Chloe sounded thoughtful, as if she was trying to pin something into place, but then she rubbed at her forehead. "For a second I thought… but no, I lost it. Time enough to figure it out tomorrow, and I do think we should talk to Zerah again."

Lucifer nodded. He agreed, but just at that moment was more concerned with easing an arm around Chloe without jostling her too much. That accomplished, he reached for the remote and turned on Netflix.

It wasn't until sometime later, when Lucifer had become entirely immersed in The Great British Baking Show, that Chloe sat up and asked, "Why did she have a gun?"

"What?" Lucifer asked, trying to pull his mind away from baked goods.

"Your - Zerah. She shot me." Lucifer nodded as he fumbled to pause the show, trying to follow, and Chloe continued, "Could she just have… spontaneously created a gun? Could you?"

"I couldn't, no." Lucifer tried not to sound miffed, and it wasn't as if he knew whether or not Zerah could spontaneously create anything, either. Who knew what skills his mother had given these new offspring?

Chloe nodded, absently tucking her hair behind one ear as she continued, "So let's assume she can't, either. She must have had the gun with her. But why?"

Lucifer sighed, and it wasn't just because he knew he wasn't going to see the end of the show. "Should I call her, see if she'll come back?"

"Yeah," Chloe replied, though Lucifer saw her looking toward her daughter's room. "Not now, though."

"Not today," Lucifer agreed quickly. "Tomorrow, perhaps at mine." He hesitated, then said, "I would never let your offspring come to harm." And he wouldn't. The child was growing on him in a not-entirely-unpleasant fashion. Well, and he wouldn't be able to look his Detective in the face if something happened to Beatrice, something he could have stopped. "I shouldn't have called Zerah here," he realized. "Not with the child here."

"Hey, it's okay," Chloe said, with a quick smile that Lucifer guessed meant that she agreed with him. "It's just that Zerah is unpredictable. But tomorrow, yeah. And I know you wouldn't let Trixie get hurt," she added, nestling against him once more.

After a moment, Lucifer turned the show back on, but now he couldn't focus, instead thinking about Zerah.

Had his - their - mother been kinder to her? Had Mum gone back to how she had been in the early days, before everything had gone so wrong?

Lucifer told himself that he wasn't jealous, not of this slip of a girl who was clearly a poor imitation of himself. But as he sat with Chloe, the sounds of the television washing over him, he couldn't get her out of his mind.

* * *

They were still, both of them. Chloe had finally stopped her pacing and stood leaning against the bar. Lucifer sprawled on the couch, his legs stretched before him.

He felt like a coiled spring, all nervous energy, and imagined she did as well.

"Should we, I don't know." Chloe exhaled a breath. "Do you want to ask if Amenadiel will come help, in case we want backup?"

Lucifer kept his face fairly blank, but he probably gave himself away, as Chloe smiled and shook her head, saying, "Guess not."

He didn't, though. He didn't want Amenadiel there, and certainly didn't like the implication that he couldn't handle the situation himself, that they needed God's warrior.

But Chloe had said want, not need. That was something.

"Do you think that he'd tell your father?" Chloe asked. "I thought he was… I mean, doesn't he know already?"

Lucifer bit back on his immediate reaction, that he didn't care if his father knew, because he did care, deep down. He still wasn't sure what to make of this odd sibling, and he certainly didn't want to see his father's reaction to her, something his mother had created on her own.

"Ah, there's a difference between knowing something and being forced to acknowledge it," Lucifer explained. "He may well know, depending on how much attention he's paying, but if nobody specifically tells him, he may choose not to deal with it."

 _I'm telling_ had not been a hollow threat, back in the Silver City.

"Well, what about Maze?" Chloe spoke hesitantly. Lucifer knew that Chloe and Maze had patched up their issues, and was glad of it, particularly for the child's sake, but no.

Lucifer shook his head. "She's likely with Linda. I don't want…"

He didn't want to give Mazikeen the opportunity to refuse him, which he suspected she would, though she could also agree to help out of curiosity. He could never be sure, not with his demon.

Well, no. Not his. They had made their choices, and Maze was her own demon, had been for a while. He could find it in himself to be glad of that, too, over the sharp bite of regret.

"We can manage, ourselves," he said, his voice decisive, encouraging. "After all, she's barely more than a girl."

Chloe did not look fooled. "Well, that could be part of the problem," she suggested, coming to suit next to him. "Children can be unpredictable and, well, illogical. I mean, have you ever dealt with a two year-old?" She must have caught his appalled look, as she laughed. "Right, of course not. Okay, look, when Trixie was two, she had a meltdown because I cut her sandwich into squares instead of triangles."

Lucifer felt some sympathy for the child. "But, Detective, surely you realize that across the diagonal is really the only proper way to slice a sandwich. You get a far better bite."

"But it's the same…" Chloe shook her head, looking caught between laughter and exasperation, though still with that nervous tension thrumming under everything. "You know what? Never mind. But the point is that Trix screamed about it until I made her a new sandwich, with triangles."

Curious, Lucifer asked, "What happened to the square one?"

Chloe made a face. "I think you're missing the point. If Zerah is as young as we think she is, she could act in ways that seem irrational to us. And that's not even taking into account that she's from another dimension. Things may be very different there."

That had been an interesting conversation, explaining where he'd sent his mother. But Chloe had nodded, taken a moment to think about it, and then slotted the idea into her worldview.

Lucifer wondered what, exactly, his mother had done with her new world. The Silver City had been more his siblings' project, but what would Mum do with free rein?

He steered his mind away from the equine comparison, then realized that Chloe appeared to be waiting for an answer. "Yes, of course," he agreed. "Things could be very different. Look, let's just call her and be done with it."

"Should I leave?" Chloe asked, looking concerned. "I mean, the vulnerability thing..."

Lucifer shook his head. "Not unless you want to. She appears to be similar enough to myself to be able to injure me whether you're here or not."

"Because she's supernatural," Chloe realized. "So when you asked me to take off my shirt ages ago… I mean, I could tell from how you were acting that it wasn't a come-on, but you can really be hurt just by other supernatural beings? Why would your father do that? Why not just have you be invulnerable to everything?"

Lucifer shrugged, not especially wanting to think about his father's thought processes. "I swear to you," he said, his voice light, "That, at least in that particular moment, I wasn't hitting on you, no. And I can't ever speak to what motivates my father." He sat up straighter, then, with a single clap of his hands. "Let's see if she answers."

"Wait." Chloe reached for his hands. "You said she looked surprised, when you called her yesterday. What does it feel like?"

Lucifer frowned thoughtfully as he tried to put it into words. "Depends how many are calling, and I suppose how used to it you are. It's like…" He reached over and tapped her shoulder. "But in your mind."

"Do you have to….?" Chloe folded her hands, as if in prayer.

"I suppose not," Lucifer replied, wondering about that, himself. "I mean, I was never one for the _down on your knees_ aspect of things. Well, not about _that_ , at least." He grinned at his addition, his brows arching suggestively, and was gratified to see Chloe's quick smile and small headshake. "It's the sincerity that matters," he added. "Someone playing at it wouldn't reach anyone."

Chloe nodded her understanding. "You have to mean it, really want it," she suggested, and Lucifer nodded.

And then he felt it, a tug of attention in his head, a whisper of his name, but from… yes, it was Chloe. He looked sharply at her, and she opened her eyes, trying to keep a straight face but not really succeeding. "That could come in handy," was all she said.

"Indeed," Lucifer breathed.

She probably meant for work, but… _indeed_.

"But will you call Zerah?" Chloe asked, serious once more. "You've got the experience. I don't want to, I don't know, mess it up."

Lucifer smiled, but nodded. Privately, he didn't want his Detective in anybody's head but his own. "Now?"

Chloe got to her feet and put a bit of distance between them. "Now."

Lucifer pressed his hands together, then, with a rueful smile, rested them at his sides. He called out to Zerah once more, and, as before, nothing happened at first.

"Did you…?" Chloe asked, and Lucifer nodded.

"This is what happened last time."

And then, accompanied by the now-familiar yellow flash, Zerah appeared. "What?" she asked, her voice sharp with agitation. "Look, you can't just… do that to somebody."

"Do what?" Lucifer asked.

Zerah made a grasping sort of gesture, and Chloe frowned. "Lucifer, she doesn't _have_ to come when you call, does she?"

"No," Lucifer replied firmly, before turning to Zerah. "No," he told her. "You don't. If someone calls you like that, you do not have to answer, in person or not. Zerah, I never would have forced you here."

Zerah looked a little flustered. "But you _called_ me."

Lucifer got to his feet, slowly, carefully, so as not to startle her. "You don't have to listen, though," he explained. "You can ignore it, or not, as you like. If I'd thought you would feel compelled to come…" He shook his head, saying simply, "I apologize."

Zerah inclined her head, another of those unnervingly familiar gestures.

"But," Chloe added, "now that you're here, we'd like to talk to you."

Chloe's words had been well-timed, as Zerah had seemed ready to depart once more. "Me? Why?"

"We were curious about you," Chloe replied, with a smile, and Zerah looked flattered.

Really, there wasn't that much similarity between her and Lucifer. He certainly never got that peacock-proud look about him when the Detective smiled at _him_.

Lucifer moved to get himself a drink. "Would you like something?" He directed the question to both women; Chloe shook her head, as he had anticipated, but Zerah moved to stand next to him, nodding.

Lucifer readied a second glass, though Chloe's words about two year-olds echoed in his mind. "Have you ever…?" He wasn't sure how to phrase it and so just lifted the glass, but Zerah nodded again.

"Mum created this in our world as well," she explained. "And italiancoffee and cheesynoodles."

The words as she spoke them weren't quite the same intonation they used there, in that universe, but Lucifer nodded just the same, handing over the glass.

Zerah took a sip, then hesitated.

"Don't you like it?" Lucifer asked. It was, after all, one of his better labels.

Zerah carefully put down the glass. "Mum's is better."

Well. Of course it was.

Chloe asked, "Does your world have many things that are like ours? Buildings? People?"

Zerah shook her head as she considered the other bottles behind the bar. "Mum says she wants to take her time."

"So it's just you and your mother and your sisters?" Chloe confirmed, and Zerah nodded. "Huh."

Zerah turned from her contemplation of the bar to give Chloe a look of inquiry.

Chloe continued, voice still casual. "Where did you get the gun, Zerah? It sounds like they don't exist back in, uh, your world."

Zerah went still. Lucifer pondered… well, he wasn't sure what he pondered. It wasn't as if he could stop her going back to her own universe, if that was what she wanted to do.

"No," Zerah agreed finally. "I got it here. Mum doesn't need guns."

And while it was certainly true, Lucifer could not help but find the statement a bit chilling. What was his mother up to? "Did she send you here?" he asked.

Zerah, who had started to relax, stiffened once more. "No."

Chloe ignored Lucifer's warning look and approached Zerah, asking gently, "Does she know you're here?" Zerah's silence was answer enough, and Chloe added, "She might worry about you."

"No." Zerah's response was scorn itself. "She doesn't know I can come here. If she did, she'd…"

Lucifer waited for Zerah to finish, and Chloe's expression suggested that she was doing the same.

When the silence had hung a bit too long, Lucifer suggested, "Punish you?"

Of course that would be his first suggestion, being who he was, but Zerah shook her head, covering her face in her hands.

"Would she tell you not to come back?" Chloe suggested, her voice midway between nice-mum and cop. She had an idea, Lucifer suspected, though she wasn't showing her cards.

He felt a surge of pride for his Detective.

But, no, Zerah still shook her head. She wiped her eyes, apparently no stranger to tears, though why that of all things would make Lucifer feel pity for her, he didn't know.

"What, then?" he asked, trying to gentle his voice.

"She'd want me to bring her here," Zerah replied, a quiver in her voice.

Lucifer couldn't help but be a bit pleased at the thought. "Well, you should," he suggested. "Might be nice to see her again, long as she's got her glowy bits under control. We'd just been reaching some sort of understanding when I'd sent her off. Though why she'd need you to bring her here…" After all, their mother was Goddess of two Creations now, after all.

"Lucifer." Chloe spoke quietly over his words, but with some urgency. "Maybe that's not the best -"

"No!" Zerah's voice broke with the force of her words as she interrupted them both, though she looked away from Lucifer. "No, I don't want to!"

"You don't have to, Zerah," Chloe reassured, in fact sounding relieved.

Lucifer, though, felt something like suspicion niggling at the back of his brain. "Why not let her come for a little visit?" he urged, his voice dropping a little. "It'd be lovely to see her again." Chloe's eyes widened, but she didn't protest this time.

With humans, lowering his voice as Lucifer had tended to lull them a bit, though that did not appear to be the case for Zerah. His desire trick didn't work for his other siblings, but he'd wanted to try.

"No!" she repeated, her shriek achieving a truly impressive pitch that Lucifer coveted for torture chambers in Hell.

Lucifer tipped his head to Chloe, but subtly, and she jumped in right on cue with a soothing, "But why not, Zerah?"

"She'll stay," Zerah replied, choking back a sob. "She's always talking about here, and her _boys_ and she'll _stay_!"

Lucifer and Chloe exchanged a quick, startled look, and then Chloe said, "I'm sure she wouldn't -"

"Yes, she would!" Zerah countered, her voice full of certainty. "If she could find the right body, she'd come back! The one she had before was already gone when she figured out how, so -" And here she cut off her words, and may well have vanished, but Chloe grabbed her wrist. "Stop!" Zerah protested. "I can't take you with me!" Still, she didn't try to break away, and in fact flopped into a nearby chair, so Chloe maintained her grip.

"You can't carry humans to her," Lucifer said, trying to puzzle it out, "but if she found the right human, she could come here?"

"I wouldn't carry humans to her," Zerah retorted, shaking her head. "I want her to stay home!"

Chloe hunkered down next to Zerah, looking like she was trying to catch her eye. "Zerah," she said, her voice soft, "Did you find humans you thought your mom would like?" Zerah nodded, and Chloe continued, "Did you… make them so your mom couldn't use them?"

Zerah nodded once more. "With the gun," she agreed. "There are so many humans, but not many she would like. Mum is particular. She wouldn't want you," she added to Chloe. "Because of Lucifer."

"That _would_ be…" Lucifer shuddered. Expecting his Detective and finding his mother in her body would not have been pleasant, to say the least. "But I thought she needed them to be, ah, recently dead to use them. Like Charlotte, that first time."

"She's not in Hell, Lucifer," Zerah replied, with such scorn that Lucifer was actually impressed. "It doesn't work like that any more. She needs to make a connection with them, from home, and they have to be alive for her to do it."

Chloe shook her head at both of them. "Can't she just come over in her body, the way you are?"

"Mum," Zerah explained, "Is _different_."

Chloe signed very quietly, and tried once more to catch Zerah's gaze. "Zerah, they're people. You're killing people. Individuals."

"But there are so many of them," Zerah replied, clearly puzzled. "Surely they weren't missed. And Mum would only want the good ones; they all went to their Heaven when I killed them. Isn't that what they want? Heaven?"

Trust his mother to not want any human who could end up in Hell, not after her millenia there.

While Lucifer had always been fascinated by humanity, ever since the first ones, he couldn't help but understand what Zerah was saying, though he of course did not agree with her. There were an awful lot of them after all, and some of them did feel interchangeable. Still, he explained, "They were missed, Zerah. Their friends and families…"

Zerah looked uneasy, but didn't respond.

"Could you stop killing the humans?" Chloe asked, her tone careful. She cast a quick look over Zerah's shoulder at Lucifer, and he wondered if maybe she would be happier not knowing about the supernatural aspects that had taken over her life. He'd asked, and of course she said she'd rather know, but at times like this he wondered.

Zerah seemed to consider Chloe's suggestion. "But what if Mum find the right human and leaves? I don't want her to."

Lucifer took a sip of his drink, more of a stall than anything else. "Well," he said slowly. "How about this: if she does come here, she'll come see me, yes?"

Zerah nodded, making a wry face and muttering something about _boys_.

"Well, then," Lucifer concluded, "If she ends up here, I'll tell her to go home, that you miss her."

Chloe nodded her approval, and Lucifer managed not to smile in response, but only just.

"But what if she still doesn't come home?" Zerah asked, though she looked a bit more hopeful.

"If she doesn't," Lucifer echoed, searching for an answer.

Chloe jumped in with, "Then Lucifer can call you, like he just did, and you can come tell your mother, yourself."

And now Lucifer did smile. _Teamwork_.

"All right." Zerah nodded, though she still looked a bit hesitant. She turned to Lucifer, then, her dark eyes intent. "Do you want to come?" She got to her feet, not quite dislodging Chloe's grip on her wrist.

"Come… where?" Lucifer replied.

Zerah smiled. "Home! You could see Mum, and meet my sisters."

And Lucifer didn't deny that he, for once, was the one who was tempted. Not so much for the sisters, but he would like to see his mother and what she had done with her new world.

"But wouldn't she wonder how Lucifer got there?" Chloe asked. "And she might realize you'd come here."

Zerah shook her head. "She'd just be glad he was there," she replied, with a small shrug and a wry look.

Lucifer wasn't so sure about that. For all his mother's claims that everything she did was for her family, he was pretty sure she would be suspicious of his sudden arrival in her universe.

Chloe sent a look in his direction that suggested she was thinking the same thing. Lucifer set down his drink and asked Zerah, "How do you do it? Go back and forth between this place and your home, I mean."

"It's easy! You just…" But Zerah's face fell when she tried to explain. "You just _do_."

And, curious as Lucifer was, he did not want to risk not being able to return. He didn't think his sister would maliciously keep him there, not really. But she had been not-maliciously killing humans, so her judgment was perhaps a little suspect.

Lucifer smiled. "Another time, maybe. Why don't you go on back to Mum, yes? See if she'll brighten the place up, add some things. That can't hurt. Maybe she'll decide she'd rather stay where she is."

Zerah nodded, though she looked a bit dubious; despite Chloe's incipient objection, she disappeared in her now-familiar yellow flash.

* * *

There was a long moment of silence, then Chloe sighed, taking a moment to sort things out, her worldview rearranged yet again. "Lucifer, she killed all those women, and she just... left," she said, her voice quiet. She folded herself to a seat on the couch as she added, "But it's not like we could keep her in a cell. Clearly."

She'd instinctively grabbed Zerah's arm earlier, not even thinking about being dragged off to another plane of existence. A small shudder went through her body.

Lucifer must have seen it, for he sat next to her, his smile reassuring, though he stuck to the topic at hand. "And even if we could keep her here, her presence could lead to too many questions, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Chloe agreed, though not without another sigh. So much of this new aspect of her life involved keeping things quiet. She'd had a nightmare the previous week about Trixie announcing to her friends at school that Lucifer was the Devil. She didn't want to think too hard about that. "And the killings will stop, even though those families won't get any closure. There is that, at least." She hesitated, then said, "Did you want to go with her to see your mother?"

Lucifer smiled. "I was a little curious, yes, and if I knew I could get back, I might have thought about it." He reached for her hand, then drew it to his lips for a quick kiss. "But I didn't want to risk not being able to get back to you."

How had she ever thought he was arrogant and shallow? Sure, he had more shoes than she did, but she knew that shoes weren't a reflection of anything except perhaps a bank account.

"But, Lucifer, she's your mother…" He shook his head, already dismissing her words, but she continued, not wanting to be the reason for issues between Lucifer and his mom. "Look, I get that relationships with parents can be tough, especially for you, but are you sure you don't want to see her?"

Lucifer's hand tightened on hers. His grip was gentle, almost carefully so. "I'm certain. And I can always ring up Zerah if I do want to see Mum, though I would need a certain way home. Maybe someday… it might be interesting to see a place that dear old Dad had no influence on."

Chloe smiled, but then echoed, "Zerah, she's… do you think she'll stop killing people?"

"I do," Lucifer replied, and he sounded fairly certain. "I hope so, at least. I don't believe she entirely understood what she was doing, before."

"Trixie used to hide the car keys when she was tiny," Chloe admitted. "So Dan and I couldn't go to work. Maybe it's like that."

"But with murder," Lucifer added.

"But with murder," Chloe echoed. She rested her forehead in her free hand, with a sound that wasn't quite a laugh. It did get overwhelming sometimes, just how strange her life had become.

"Detective?" Lucifer asked, when she didn't look up. "Are you quite well?"

Chloe nodded, then finally lifted her head. "I thought the killer was going to be a guy with mommy issues, or somebody with a grudge against their blonde kindergarten teacher, or… I don't know."

"Not my apparent sister, who…" Lucifer hesitated, then asked it. "She's not _that_ much like me, is she?"

Chloe managed to keep a straight face, but he did look offended. "There are some similarities, yeah." She tugged lightly on his hand, and he obligingly slid closer. "But, all in all, I like you better."

"Well, that's reassuring," Lucifer replied. "It'd be a blow to the ego, if you preferred my sister to me."

"Definitely not," Chloe replied. "Look, this case and… okay, pretending to be on a date at the coffee shop, it made me think about some things."

Lucifer went still, his face hard to read, though Chloe felt his hand tightening around hers. "Yes?" he breathed.

"Well, I think this… this secret relationship thing has to go," Chloe admitted.

Lucifer exhaled, looking out toward the balcony. "Very well then, Detective. If that's how you feel."

"I thought you'd be more excited," Chloe teased, and Lucifer peered at her in obvious confusion, looking a bit hurt. "Wait, you don't think I want to break up with you, do you?"

"I… yes?"

"No!" Chloe had figured that Lucifer didn't really have a good concept of what normal relationships were like, but she hadn't realized it was that bad. She'd need to be more clear, she realized. "I want to tell people," she told him. "About us."

Lucifer brightened, looking both relieved and pleased. "Are you certain? Daniel…"

"I am," Chloe said, trying to make her voice sound as sure as she felt. "Yeah, Dan isn't going to like it, but he's been doing better. And I can't live my life based on what works for him. I still care about him, but doing that isn't fair to me, or to you." She smiled. "So I'll tell him, if that's okay with you?"

"Perfectly fine," Lucifer agreed, and since he was so close, Chloe stretched up and kissed him.

It wasn't like their kiss on the beach, but it was sweet and full of the promise of the future. Sure, Lucifer's odd sister might return; she might even bring their mother. But in that moment, Chloe couldn't find it in herself to care.


End file.
